![]() ![]() The maximum distance between the camber line and chord line is referred to as the airfoil’s camber and is usually enumerated as a percent of chord. A line drawn half way between the airfoil section’s upper and lower surfaces is called the camber line. The length of the chord line is referred to as the chord. A straight line from the airfoil section leading edge to its trailing edge is called the chord line. In order to look at why wings are shaped like they are we need to start by looking at the terms that are used to define the shape of a wing.Ī two dimensional slice of a wing cut parallel to the centerline of the aircraft fuselage or body is called the airfoil section. All of these shapes are related to the purpose and design of the aircraft. Wings may have odd shapes at their tips or even attachments and extensions such as winglets. ![]() Some wings are swept and others are straight. Some aircraft have short, stubby wings (small wing span), while others have long, narrow wings. If one looks at enough airplanes, past and present, he or she will find a wide variety of wing shapes. It would also be nice if the forces on the wing did not exceed the load limit of the wing structure. In addition he or she needs to understand how the vehicle’s aerodynamics interacts with other aspects of its design and performance. The aero engineer needs to know how to shape the wing to get the optimum combination of lift and drag and pitching moment for a particular airplane mission. The aero engineer needs to know something more than this. Most people have some idea of how a wing works that is, by making the flow over the top of the wing go faster than the flow over the bottom we get a lower pressure on the top than on the bottom and, as a result, get lift. The wing is the most important part of an airplane because without it there would be no lift and no aircraft. Aerodynamics is essentially the application of classical theories of “fluid mechanics” to external flows or flows around bodies, and the main application which comes to mind for most aero engineers is flow around wings. Introduction to Aerodynamics 1.1 AerodynamicsĪerodynamics is probably the first subject that comes to mind when most people think of Aeronautical or Aerospace Engineering.
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